No laughter over loss of amusements

Thanks to cheap flights and a hunger for the sun, the death knell of the traditional British bucket-and-spade seaside holiday has been ringing for some time. But according to a new book, the amusement arcades that have lined resort promenades for decades may also soon be a thing of the past.

In Pennies by the Sea: The Life and Times of Joyland Amusements, Bridlington, author Nick Laister, a town planner and arcade enthusiast, documents the twists and turns in the history of seaside arcades.

The book is the outcome of a life-long interest in the subject. Inspired by childhood summers spent in the east Yorkshire town of Bridlington, Laister has been campaigning for years to save some of the country's landmark amusement arcades as they disappear in the face of changing leisure tastes.

"The heyday of the annual summer seaside holiday was in the 1950s, but it remained popular into the 1970s when arcades benefited from the introduction of video games," Laister says. "I think there is a growing realisation that a huge amount of our resorts are being lost."

Laister wrote the book because arcades had never been written about, despite being the "most amazing of worlds". They are an important part of Britain's heritage that should be treasured, he suggests.

In 2001, he applied to English Heritage to have a 1930s rollercoaster in Dreamland, Margate, protected by being listed. To his surprise, the recommendations were accepted.

His efforts are about more than nostalgia, however. He worries that if such landmarks are not protected with the same enthusiasm that the heritage industry has saved structures such as stately homes, then a "valuable part" of our social history will be lost.

While the demise of the seafront arcade is largely triggered by changing leisure preferences, Laister says this is only part of the picture. Despite an ample supply of potential investors, he points out, soaring land values in some areas are simply pricing them out of the market.

Laister intends to persevere with his attempts to save old arcades from closure even though in the long term, he says, "it is probably a losing battle".